The 2018–2019 Omani protests were nationwide

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

and rallies in which tens of thousands of protesters marched against skyrocketing

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

and

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

in the

Sultanate Sultan (; ', ) is a Royal and noble ranks, position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". La ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. These protests were part of a larger series of anti-government protests in several

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

countries, known as the

2018–2024 Arab protests The 2018–2024 Arab protests were a series of anti-government protests which began in several Arab world countries in 2018. In Iraq, the deadliest incident of civil unrest since the fall of Saddam Hussein resulted in its Prime Minister of Ira ...

. Over a 13-month period between January 2018 and January 2019, Omani citizens went out into the streets on several occasions to rally against decisions made by their

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, whilst demanding more employment opportunities as well as

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

reforms.

Timeline

First wave (January 2018)

In the afternoon of Monday the 22nd of January 2018, a large group of Omani

citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

began to gather outside the Ministry of Manpower in

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

. As the crowd grew bigger, protesters reportedly started shouting chants such as: 'we want jobs' and 'we are tired of waiting'. As

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

stood on guard, several of the young unemployed protesters demonstrating against the lack of job opportunities were invited into the Ministry building to discuss their grievances with officials. Exactly one week later, on January 29, protesters gathered once again in the Omani capital. This time, demonstrations spread to provincial cities

Salalah Salalah () is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani Governorates of Oman, governorate of Dhofar Governorate, Dhofar. It has a population close to 331,949. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest ...

and Sur. Protesters' demands mainly targeted the lack of job opportunities within the Sultanate as well as the high unemployment rate, with the national rate being estimated at 15% nationally and over 30% for young people the year before. Numerous arrests were made by riot-police in the Southern

Dhofar governorate The Dhofar Governorate () is the largest of the 11 Governorates of Oman, governorates in the Oman, Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Governorate and the southern border wi ...

in January 2018, with protesters reportedly being released that same day. In response of the nationwide protests, the Omani government announced that it would be creating 25 thousand jobs over the next six months, that were to be filled by Omani nationals only. Furthermore, Oman's Minister of Manpowe
Abdullah bin Nasser al-Bakri
stated that the recruitment of expatriate labor to certain professions would be restricted during that same period. In total, Oman banned the issuance of new visas for expatriate workers in 87 private sector professions and increased the fees for sponsoring expatriate employees. As promised, it also managed to create 25 thousands

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

jobs for its citizens.

Second wave (December 2018 - January 2019)

Unrest resurfaced in the Sultanate of Oman towards the end of 2018. In december, thousands of protesters rallied against economic hardship and once again requested more job opportunities. Protests reached the cities of Muscat,

Sohar Sohar () is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town on the Gulf of Oman, Sohar has also been credited as the mythical birthp ...

, Sur and Salalah and were composed mostly of recent

graduates Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...

and unemployed youth. Within certain professions, strikes were reported throughout the country. On January 1, 2019, renewed protests broke out in Oman's biggest cities: Muscat and Salalah. People in the streets protested high unemployment rates and austerity measures adopted by the regime to compensate for decreasing oil prices. These measures involved cutting government spending on subsidies by over OMR500 million (approx. USD1.3bn) in 2015-2016. In previous years, the Omani government capped the price of regular petrol; diesel and super petrol remained linked to international crude oil prices. Similar public demonstrations had taken place in Oman in 2015 after transportation fuel prices were indexed to international market prices. The demonstrations that took place in early January 2019 triggered a swift response by the Omani government. Existing visa-bans for

expatriates An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

that were installed after the 2018 protests were extended. On January 6, the Omani government announced that it would establish a new body to alleviate the employment-crisis. The so-called National Center for Employment was created to help Omanis to navigate the national

labor market Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the Market (economics), markets for wage labour. Labour (human activity), Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding ...

. As a result, protests and strikes came to an end on January 9, 2019.

Police response

Polices responses to the late 2018 protests were reported to have been excessive at times, with some people being arrested immediately upon their arrival to the protest site. Some protesters reportedly were being released quickly, whereas for others that has remained unclear. Over the course of 2018, at least 30 people protesting unemployment were arrested and later released in Oman. In 2019, police forces detained two radio journalists from Hala FM who were covering an unemployment protest in Muscat. Police also reportedly forced social media users at the protest to delete the photos and videos which they had taken.

References

External links